When I was young I thought I had my own key I knew exactly what I wanted to be Now I'm sure You've boarded up every door
Lived in a bubble Days were never ending Was not concerned About what life was sending Fantasy was real Now I know much About the way I feel
I'll paint you the picture 'Cause I don't think you live round here no more I've never even seen The key to the door We only get what we will settle for
While we're living The dreams we have as children Fade away While we're living The dreams we have as children Fade away While we're living The dreams we have as children Fade away, away, away They fade away, away, away
Now my life has turned Another corner I think it's only best That I should warn you Dream it while you can Maybe someday I'll make you understand
I'll paint you the picture 'Cause I don't think you live round here no more I've never even seen The key to the door We only get what we will settle for
While we're living The dreams we have as children Fade away While we're living The dreams we have as children Fade away While we're living The dreams we have as children Fade away They fade away, away, away Fade away, away, away
Did I see a moment with you In a half lit world I'm frightened to believe But I must try If I stumble if I fall I'm reaching out in this mourning air, ohh
Have I got the strength to ask Beyond the window I feel this fear alone Until we have Total honesty If I tremble or fall I'm reaching out in this mourning air, ohh
Should I feel a moment with you To softly whisper I crave nothing else so much Longing to reveal Total honesty I can feel your touch I'm reaching out in this mourning air, ohh
Is it worth it, a new winters coat and shoes for the wife And a bicycle on the boys birthday It's just a rumour that was spread around town By the woman and children, soon we'll be shipbuilding
Well I ask you, the boy said "Dad there going to take me to task, But I'll be back by Christmas" It's just a rumour that was spread around town Somebody said that someone got filled in For saying that people get killed in the results of their shipbuilding With all the will in the world, Diving for dear life, when we could be diving for pearls
It's just a rumour that was spread around town A telegram or a picture postcard Within weeks we will be reopening the shipyard And notifying the next of kin, once again It's always killed in, We will be shipbuilding
With all the will in the world, Diving for dear life, when we could be diving for pearls...
It was the third of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day I was out choppin' cotton and my brother was baling hay At dinner time we stopped and walked back to the house to eat And Mama hollered out the back door "y'all remember to wipe your feet" Then she said "I got some news this morning from Chocktow Ridge Today Billy Joe MacAllister jumped off the Tallahachee Bridge"
Papa said to Mama as he passed around the blackCeyed peas "Well Billy Joe never had a lick of sense, pass the biscuits, please There's five more acres in the lower forty I got to plow" And Mama said it was shame about Billy Joe, anyhow Seems like nothing ever comes to no good on Chocktow Ridge And now Billy Joe MacAllister's jumped off the Tallahachee Bridge
Mama said to me "Child, what's happened to your appetite? I've been cooking all morning and you haven't touched a single bite That nice young preacher, Brother Taylor, dropped by today Said he'd be pleased to have dinner on Sunday, oh, by the way, He said he saw a girl that looked a lot like you on Chocktow Ridge And she and Billy Joe was throwing something off the Tallahachee Bridge"
A year has come and gone since we heard the news about Billy Joe Brother married Becky Thompson, they bought a store in Tupelow There was a virus going 'round, Papa caught it and he died last Spring And now Mama doesn't seem to wanna do much of anything And me, I spend a lot of time picking flowers up on Chocktow Ridge And drop them into the muddy water off the Tallahachee Bridge